The present invention relates to frozen and non-frozen edible compositions which include particulated gels, and to processes for the preparation of such edible compositions.
Gels of various types have been used in food and food products for many years. Indeed, naturally occurring gelling materials have long found a use in traditional food preparation.
Among known gels which find use in food production are particulated gels which are caused to set under the application of shear, causing a gel to form in particles of a size which depends on the constituents of the gel and the amount of shear applied. Also used in food production are conventionally set gels, which are prepared by causing a solution of a gelling component to set, substantially in the absence of shear.
Using such gels, together with other ingredients, gelled food products having a variety of textures may be obtained. However, there is a continuing consumer demand for food products, including gelled food products, having an increased variety of textures and/or appearances. Accordingly, there is a need for food products having novel textures and/or appearances, compared to food products which are currently obtainable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an edible composition which includes a particulated gel and has a novel texture and/or appearance, and to provide a process for the preparation of such an edible composition.
Surprisingly, it has been found by the present inventors that the rheological properties of a particulated gel are such that it may be filled into a suitable container with one or more other particulated gels in such a way that the particulated gels substantially do not mix, giving rise to a range of edible compositions of novel texture and/or appearance.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is provided an edible composition having a first part including a first particulated gel and at least one other part including a second particulated gel, said first part being substantially unmixed with said other part or parts.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention there is provided a process for preparing an edible composition, including providing a first part including a first particulated gel and providing at least one other part including a second particulated gel, filling said first part into a container and filling said other part or parts into said container substantially without mixing said first part with said other part or parts.
According to a third embodiment of the present invention there is provided an edible composition, including a particulated gel suspended in a continuous phase of a hydrocolloid gel.
According to a fourth embodiment of the present invention there is provided a process for preparing an edible composition including a particulated gel suspended in a continuous phase of a hydrocolloid gel, the process including providing a solution including a first gelling component and a hydrocolloid component, causing said first gelling component to gel under the application of shear, thereby forming a particulated gel, and thereafter causing said hydrocolloid component to gel.
As used herein, the terms xe2x80x9csubstantially unmixedxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9csubstantially without mixingxe2x80x9d mean that each part in the edible composition is distinguishable to the eye or by taste or mouthfeel from the other part or parts of the edible composition.
A particulated gel in an edible composition of the invention is prepared from any gelling agent or agents capable of forming a particulated gel under appropriate conditions. Typically, the gelling agent or agents are selected from the group consisting of gellan (native or de-acylated), agar, alginate, modified alginates such as propylene glycol alginate, pectin, iota-carrageenan, kappa-carrageenan and furcelleran. The gelling agents for preparing the particulated gel in the first and other parts of the edible composition of the first embodiment may be the same or different. Usually, the parts of the edible composition of the first embodiment are different in texture, colour and/or flavour. The gelling agent which produces the particulated gel in an edible composition of the invention may be caused to gel by first dispersing and hydrating the component at above its gelling temperature and cooling the resulting solution or sol, or through the addition of an effective cation either at elevated temperature or in the cold. Thus, this gelling agent may be dispersed and hydrated with or without heating. Examples of suitable cations which may be added to cause this gelling agent to gel are well known to persons skilled in the art and include Na+, Ca2+, K+ and H+. The cation may be added to a solution of this gelling component just prior to gelling or it may be present in the solution of gelling component in sequestered form and desequestered by any known method to cause the gelling component to gel. Examples of sequestering agents include sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, EDTA, citric acid, sodium citrate and other citric acid salts, phosphoric acid, dicalcium phosphate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate. Desequestering is typically brought about by a change in the pH of the solution of the gelling agent.
However the gelling agent which produces the particulated gel is caused to gel, the gelling is carried out under shear so as to form the particulated gel.
The edible composition of the first embodiment may further include one or more hydrocolloids in one or more of the parts, in addition to the particulated gel. In this form of the first embodiment, and in the edible composition of the third embodiment of the invention, the hydrocolloid may be any hydrocolloid known for use in food applications. The hydrocolloid and the gelling agent which forms the particulated gel may be the same or different. The particulated gel may be prepared separately and added to a dispersed hydrated suspension or solution of the hydrocolloid component or the particulated gel may be formed in the presence of a dispersed hydrated suspension or solution of the hydrocolloid component. In one form of a process of the second embodiment, a particulated gel is suspended in a hydrocolloid in at least one part of the edible composition, and that part is filled into a suitable container together with the other part or parts of the composition, prior to setting the hydrocolloid component. It will be appreciated that in order to form a continuous phase of a hydrocolloid gel, the hydrocolloid is gelled under conditions of low shear.
Usually, in a process in which the particulated gel is formed in the presence of another gelling component, the two gelling components are different from each other and have different gelling properties, so that the gelling component which forms the particulated gel is capable of being gelled under conditions wherein the other gelling component remains as a sol. For example, in such a process a hydrated sol of both gelling components may be cooled through a temperature below which one, but not the other, forms a gel, while shear is applied. Under these conditions, the first gelling component forms a particulated gel suspended in a solution of the second gelling component. Further cooling of the mixture to below the gelling temperature of the second component causes the second component to set into a gel. Alternatively, the two gelling components may be the same. In such a composition, the same gelling component may be added in two portions and hydrated separately under different conditions. For example, the gelling component may be added and hydrated either hot or cold, and then suitable cations may be added or released with application of shear to form a particulated gel. A second portion of the same gelling component may then be added and hydrated in the presence of the particulated gel, to form an edible composition of the third embodiment or one part of an edible composition of the first embodiment. For example, the gelling component may be gellan, with gelling of a first portion of the gellan being caused by addition or release of cations and hydration of a second portion of the gellan being achieved by subsequently heating the mixture.
Typically a hydrocolloid component which forms a non-particulated hydrocolloid phase includes one or more components selected from the group consisting of gellan (native or deacylated), gelatin, alginate, propylene glycol alginate, pectin, carrageenan, furcelleran, agar, locust bean gum, guar gum, modified guar gum, cassia gum, tara gum, gum tragacanth, microcrystalline cellulose, processed eucheuma seaweed, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose and other modified cellulose derivatives, xanthan, native or modified starches, gelling proteins including whey proteins and caseinates. This component may be gelled by cooling or by chemical means, for example the addition of a suitable cation such as one of the cations exemplified herein above. This component may be dispersed and hydrated with or without heating and either in the presence or the absence of the gelling component which forms the particulated gel. One gelling component may be formed into a particulated gel before being added to a solution of the other gelling component, or the gelling components may be dispersed and hydrated together.
The particulated gel of the edible composition of the invention is formed under the application of shear to a solution or sol of the gelling component. Typically, shear is applied to a setting solution of the gelling component by vigorous stirring of the solution, such as by the use of a high-shear mixer, or by passage through a venturi or through a plate heat exchanger. Methods for the preparation of particulated gels by the gelation of a gelling agent under the application of shear are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.
The particle size range of the particulated gel is controlled by the degree of shear applied during gelling of the particulated gel. One way in which the novel texture of the edible composition of the present invention may be varied is thus by altering the degree of shear which is applied when the particulated gel is being formed.
Usually, an edible composition of the third embodiment of the present invention includes the gelling component which forms the particulated gel and the hydrocolloid component in a ratio of from about 1:100 by weight to about 5:1 by weight, more usually from about 1:20 to about 1:1 by weight, even more usually from about 1:5 to about 1:1.5 by weight, still more usually from about 1:2.5 to 1:2 by weight.
Typically, an edible composition of the third embodiment of the present invention and each part of an edible composition of the first embodiment includes from about 0.05 to 1% by weight of the gelling agent which forms the particulated gel, more typically from 0.05 to 0.5%, still more typically from 0.05 to 0.25%, based on the total weight of the composition or part. Where a hydrocolloid component is also included, the amount of the hydrocolloid component is usually from about 0.05 to 5% by weight of the composition or part, more typically from about 0.05 to 1% by weight, even more typically from about 0.05 to 0.7%, still more typically from about 0.05 to 0.5% by weight. It will be appreciated that the amount of the components utilised will depend on their nature, the desired food texture, and the temperature at which the composition is to be consumed. Given the teaching herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art can prepare edible compositions in accordance with the invention, having a range of desired textures, with no more than ordinary trial and error.
An edible composition of the present invention may also include one or more other components generally known for use in food products, such as flavourings, colourings, sugar and/or other sweeteners, preservatives, buffering agents, texturing agents, fats, colloids, suspended solids, etc, to give the food composition a desired texture and/or appearance. The amounts of such components use not critical to the invention and may be adjusted according to taste and according to the flavour/texture characteristics desired of the edible composition of the invention. The edible composition is typically neutral or acidic.
An edible composition of the present invention may be a frozen or a non-frozen product. When the edible composition of the invention is a frozen product, it will be appreciated that after gelling the gelling agent or agents present and filling the parts of the composition into a suitable container, a further step of freezing the edible composition is required.
Edible compositions of the present invention have a novel texture and/or appearance compared to food products which have been known hitherto. For example, a frozen composition of the present invention has a texture which provides a warmer eat, a jelly-like mouth feel and slow melt compared to known ice confections.
Edible compositions of the present invention may have any of a variety of appearances. The form of product presented to the consumer depends on the nature of the component or components of the composition which are included together with the particulated gel. The texture of the edible composition may be suitable for presentation of the composition for example as a custard, pudding, flan, demouldable flan, self-saucing flan or mousse and in a liquid, refrigerated, frozen or canned form.
In one form, the edible composition of the first embodiment may consist of one or more than one different edible compositions in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention. The edible composition may be provided in a suitable container such as a cup, tub or tube, or frozen in a block or on a stick, for example. The rheology of particulated gels has been discovered by the present inventors to make it possible to make use of novel filling systems to give the consumer product an attractive and novel appearance.
An edible composition of the invention may further include other edible components which may be filled into a container of the edible composition at the same time as, before, or after the parts of the edible composition which include the particulated gel(s). Examples of other edible components which may be included are sauces, fruits, syrups, custards, mousses, cream, jellies, puddings, cakes, biscuits, pastry, chocolate, candy and the like. In this form of the invention, the further component, such as a fruit syrup, is typically placed into a suitable container and the parts of the edible composition are filled onto it, substantially without mixing the parts.
In a process according to the second embodiment of the invention, two or more particulated gels are filled under conditions of low shear into a product container. The parts may be filled substantially simultaneously into the container, the filling being into different regions of the container, or consecutively. In the case of consecutive filling, the parts may be filled into the same or different regions of the container. For example, the gels may be filled simultaneously in a bottom up fashion, to produce two or more separate vertically segregated regions. Typically such regions are of contrasting appearance, such as colour. In a variation on this filling arrangement, the container may be rotated about the fillers during filling, which results in a product having a swirled or marbled appearance.
Another possible arrangement is for two or more particulated gels to be filled consecutively into the centre of a container. This produces a final product having concentric annularly segregated regions of different appearance.
Other possible filling schemes will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
In another form of the edible composition of the first embodiment, two or more parts of the edible composition each include two different gelling agents, one gelling agent of each two being capable of forming a particulated gel. In this form of the invention, the particulated gel is formed in each of the two parts under conditions in which the other gelling agent does not gel, resulting in a particulated gel suspended in a solution of the second gelling component, and two or more such suspensions are filled into the same container under conditions wherein there is substantially no mixing of the two suspensions so as to form a two part edible composition of the present invention. In this way, it is possible for gelled food products having attractive and novel appearances to be obtained.
In all cases, where a second gelling component is present in one or more of the parts of the edible composition, it may be caused to gel, if so desired, by lowering the temperature of the mixture and/or by release of suitable cations, after each of the particulated gels has been charged into the container.